Cleaning a gas tank.

The camaro needs a fuel pump, and I gotta pull the tank to do so, and while its out, figured I may as well clean the tank. I remember seeing tommy and rick on MuscleCar do it, and I think they sealed it off and sloshed acetone inside of which, but I can't remember the whole procedure, can you guys enlighten me?

acetone works. They also make epoxy kits that coat the inside of the tank afterward and prevent future nasties. I had to do it with a 72' Honda CB400 I was working on. Nasty stuff though.

Yeah, isn't there a 2 part kit they make for motorcycles?

IIRC,POR makes a product for coating the inside of the tank. I think the PO of my M2 did such.

Eastwood has a couple of kits for doing this. I've used them a couple of times to great effect. One of the tanks was filled with a nasty, tar-like sediment that would not come out easily. I started by blasting the tank out with a pressure washer. I then sloshed around some paint thinner, followed by another round with the pressure washer. A few cycles of this got the tank to a point where I could use the Eastwood kit.

Make sure that it will be affected by 10-15% ethanol, as some of that early stuff from many years ago does not handle it well...

I'm a guessin' it's hard to find stuff that old but...

from the OLD board... like 6 years ago... http://archive.grassrootsmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?id=12477

I had this in mind because i'll be doing the same thing very soon doh.

I had a motorcycle tank with a rust issue, to fix it I threw a box of brass BB's in there and shook it around for a while to mechanically beat on the rust. That was fun. Then rinsed out with a little gasoline (I would recommend something else less flammable if you want to be smart about it, like acetone) and then used a Kreme kit it on it. They give you some acid and you fill the tank with hot water and dump that stuff in, then drain it out and yadda yadda. It did remove more rusty crud beyond what the BB's broke loose but I figured the BB's would help give it a head start.

The problem with the Kreme kit is it "includes everything you need" but I thought it could use more acetone and acid wash. If I were doing this again I'd look at whatever Eastwood has and what POR offers first.

As a former motorcycle mechanic, I did a lot of work behind owners who had dumped Kreme into their tank, and now brought me their non-running motorcycle to fix. Kreme flakes off, plugging everything. With the nifty solvent capabilities of the additional ethanol in gasolines, this won't be better today.

Trying to shake a gas tank full of rocks or bbs is exhausting. Especially a car gas tank. There are various tricks (strapping it to a wheel with the car jacked up, etc). But really, I've found dumping a bunch of vinegar in there and letting it sit for a day (or two or three) works almost perfectly, and requires no muscle effort. Rinse it out when done, and you're good to go. Yes, there will be a little flash rust, just like the oem tank had. It's a non problem. One could also use an electrolysis bath in a kiddie wading pool.

If it is rust you are trying to remove use muriatic acid from the hardware store and hot water. If it is just filth and sludge I don't think you can DIY it any cheaper than the $20 that the radiator shop wanted to charge me to dip it into their vat o' nasty. Let them pay for the chemicals and disposal.

I used the POR-15 kit on my tank after the muriatic acid bath and welding in the new surge tank and motorcycle fuel pump. It has been over a year so I should probably peek inside and see how it is holding up. Seems fine from the outside.

We restored a Diamond T gas tank using the POR15 kit. It did turn out well, but took the better part of a long weekend. The most difficult part is making sure the inside is bone-dry before doing the final coating. We left it overnight in the barn with a 500W lamp on it and a blow dryer pushing air through it.

Having experienced this, I will gladly pay the $200 the local radiator shop and gastankrenu dealer wants.

foxtrapper wrote: But really, I've found dumping a bunch of vinegar in there and letting it sit for a day (or two or three) works almost perfectly, and requires no muscle effort. Rinse it out when done, and you're good to go. Yes, there will be a little flash rust, just like the oem tank had. It's a non problem. One could also use an electrolysis bath in a kiddie wading pool.

for a car tank how much vinegar are we talking here?... few gallons then from time to time rotate so it can sit along the edge and such?

I cleaned out an old Beetle tank by putting in some gravel and shaking it. Seemed to work rather well at de-rusting it.

I cleaned a Spitfire tank using MEK to remove the varnish scum. I thought the discoloration was rust, but it was only varnish. I also put a can of roofing tacks in and shook it for a long time. I used the Bill Hirsh product, which I had also used earlier in the 64 Spit.